[4] Wilson rose through the ranks from Private to Sergeant and left the University in June 1916, when his regiment was called for the federal service during Pancho Villa Expedition.

[4] Following the American entry into World War I in April 1917, Wilson entered the Army service and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery Branch on August 15, 1917.

[4] In December 1930, Wilson returned stateside and joined the headquarters of Experimental Mechanized Force at Fort Eustis, Virginia, under Brigadier general Daniel Van Voorhis as Publicity Officer.

The attached subordinate units came under the control of the Mechanized Force for specific training events related to the testing of equipment or tactics and Wilson was in the frequent contact with the press.

[4] He then served as an instructor at the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth until July 1937, when he was sent to the War Department General Staff in Washington, D.C., for duty as Liaison officer with the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal agency, employing millions of job-seekers (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.

[3][4] Following the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, Wilson was promoted to the temporary rank of colonel on December 24, 1941, and ordered back to the War Department General Staff.

As quartermaster general, South West Pacific Area Command, he assisted in working out a vital lend-lease agreement with the top officials of the Australian government.

[3] Wilson returned to the United States in June 1942 and then embarked for Europe as Commanding general, Services of Supply, Western Task Force.

[6][3] Wilson's work was appreciated by the Italian Government and he was decorated with the Order of the Crown of Italy and the University of Naples awarded him an honorary degree of doctor of laws.

The City of Naples conferred honorary citizenship upon him and he was also elected a Cavalier Magistrate, Order of the Knights of Malta, in connection with these recognition's of his significant part in helping to restore the life and culture of Free Italy.

[9] Wilson returned to the United States in July 1945 and joined the War Department General Staff in Washington, D.C., as a member of the Committee on National Guard and Reserve Policies.